In this edition of Locked on Capitals Dan talks about Anthony Mantha and what his future on the Capitals should be. To say he struggled this past season would be an understatement. Mantha finished with just 11 goals and 16 assists in 67 games while averaging 14:13 of ice time per contest, his fewest in any full season of his NHL career. Mantha was looking forward to a season without injury for the first time since joining the Caps. His first two seasons saw him sidelined for the lions share of the season. He also saw himself as a healthy scratch multiple times this past season Being scratched is a hard hit in the face but you come back and try to get things going and get your confidence and sometimes it’s way harder than people can imagine,” Mantha said. Mantha hired a mental coach to help him deal with his mental struggles this past season. The Capitals acquired Mantha at the 2021 NHL trade deadline in a blockbuster deal that sent Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik, a first-round pick and a second-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for the then-26-year-old. The deal hasn’t aged like a fine wine and I think it’s a safe bet that GM Brian Maclellan has regret over this deal. What will the future hold for Mantha on the team? I guess only time will tell. Then Justin Trudel joins Dan and they talk about the future of Oshie in DC and was Forsythe as bad as everyone thinks?
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7 Comments
Mantha, Kuzie, both potentially labeled as inconsistent players, need more fine-tuning. Remember what Barry Trotz did with Kuzie? He kept him in the bottom 6 for a while and then boom – 2018 season when Kuzie exploded. To me it seems that Lavy is not interested in baby-sitting players (also explains why he shies away from rookies), he's dreaming of the cup, wants ready material to achieve this goal. Trotz on the other hand was willing to patiently work on it (remember how one season he restricted Ovi's ice time during regular season to keep him in shape for the playoffs). Not all his experiments paid off, but he was constantly working on it. Did not see Lavy doing it. All he did was tossing the lines to find the magic beans.
Good that Lavy is gone. If he wasn't, Mac should have done that.
Yep, Caps PP is getting old, but again it’s the head coach’s responsibility
Contrary to some people's opinions, I believe the Caps could find a lot of takers for Mantha if they were to retain just a bit. Yes, the return would be small, but they do need the cap space at the end of the day and beggars can't be choosers.
There'll be a lot of cellar-dwelling teams out there who will look at the prospects of acquiring Mantha for a mid-round pick (4th/5th) with some salary retention. They could then play him in a consistent top 6 role and then retain his salary again at the deadline and possibly upgrade that mid-rounder to a second-rounder (+). A worthy gamble given how low the changes generally are to find an NHL-caliber player in those lower echelons of the draft.
Mantras last season in Detroit he had 11 goals and minus 14; last season he had 11 goals and minus 8. It looks like he doesn’t give 100%; on him more than coaching
Hopefully no future.
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." _Jim Rohn